Leeds United have had their fair share of transfer blunders over the years, in the Championship and the Premier League.
The 2025/26 business from Leeds United and the 49ers will be assessed over the coming weeks and months, with it being too early in many cases to say whether they will be successes in West Yorkshire or not.
Name Club signed from Price Height Age
Anton Stach TSG Hoffenheim £19.9m 6’4″ 26
Noah Okafor AC Milan £18m 6’1″ 25
Lucas Perri Olympique Lyonnais £15.6m 6’6″ 27
Sean Longstaff Newcastle United £15m 6’2″ 27
Jaka Bijol Udinese £15m 6’3″ 26
Gabriel Gudmundsson Lille OSC £10m 5’11” 26
James Justin Leicester City £10m 6’0″ 27
Sebastiaan Bornauw VfL Wolfsburg £5m 6’3″ 26
Lukas Nmecha VfL Wolfsburg Free 6’1″ 26
Dominic Calvert-Lewin Everton Free 6’2″ 28
Leeds’ signings 2025/26
On paper, the business looks pretty promising over the past window. It’s more of a case that there simply hasn’t been enough of that good business, particularly in terms of attacking acquisitions.
The current regime are still dealing with the consequences of Victor Orta and Andrea Radrizzani deals which included ludicrous loan clauses, release clauses, and some hugely overpriced contracts.
The former was also prone to looking abroad for bargains when Leeds were a Championship side, which had mixed success. Players like Ezgjan Alioski and Samu Saiz arrived in 2017 and performed, but others did not.
AS Roma v Genoa CFC - Serie A TIM
Photo by Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Caleb Ekuban scores for Patrick Vieira’s Genoa against Cesc Fabregas’ Como
Pontus Jansson was also signed that summer by Orta, but Hadi Sacko, Ouasim Bouy, and Jay-Roy Grot highlight the scattergun approach to recruitment under the Spaniard in 2017/18.
Mateusz Klich was a long-term success but Felix Wiedwald and Vurnon Anita didn’t survive long in the Leeds first-team. One of the most interesting additions was that of a 23-year-old Caleb Ekuban.
He was brought in from Chievo by Orta after an impressive season on loan with Albanian side FK Partizani Tirana. He scored 17 league goals and 18 in all competitions that year.
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Leeds, however, would get just one league goal and one cup goal out of Ekuban, which saw him leave on an initial loan to Turkish side Trabzonspor. After three impressive years there, he has been with Italian outfit Genoa ever since.
Season Appearances Goals Assists
2021/22 – Serie A 33 2 2
2022/23 – Serie B 15 2 2
2023/24 – Serie A 30 4 1
2024/25 – Serie A 18 1 3
2025/26 – Serie A 2 1 0
Caleb Ekuban’s Genoa stats
It’s fair to say that he has not been clinical since his move to Genoa, having scored or assisted 35 goals in 67 games in Turkey prior to his move to Italy. However, he ended a seven-month goal drought last night.
Ekuban scored in a 2-1 win against Empoli back in December. The Ghanaian rescued a point last night against Cesc Fabregas’ Como. They were 1-0 up when Jacobo Ramon was sent off on 88 minutes, and Ekuban equalised in the 92nd minute of the match.
The goal was via the 31-year-old substitute, having been brought on by Patrick Vieira to snatch a point between the two Arsenal legends. Vieira was keen on the Leeds role during Jesse Marsch’s tenure.
Cesc Fabregas and Patrick Vieira
Photo by Image Photo Agency/Getty Images
Patrick Vieira and Cesc Fabregas have both been linked to Leeds
Vieira was liked by Leeds at one stage but they opted for Daniel Farke instead. That is despite the 49ers being impressed with Vieira’s interviews in that period.
Interestingly, his former Arsenal teammate was in charge of the opposition last night in Serie A. More interesting still is that a report from TBR Football revealed that Fabregas was among the early names being considered by Leeds to replace Farke.
That was in the summer but Farke has remained in charge, although Fabregas appears to be prioritising Como per his comments over the summer. He will be incredibly frustrated that his former captain snatched a draw via Ekuban on Monday night.